"I suppose the other thing too many forget is that we were all stories once, each and every one of us. And we remain stories." This sentence written near the end of The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint brings home an important point in human development. We are all...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 120: Mr. Breakfast by Jonathan Carroll
by MHill | Feb 4, 2023 | 2023 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Jonathan Carroll, Marion's All-Time Favorite Novels, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
"People want life to be their friend. Some even expect or believe they deserve it. But I think of life only as a companion, and an unpredictable one at that. If it were my friend, life would be hurting or disappointing me all the time. But if it's only a companion,...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 76: Mama Day by Gloria Naylor
by MHill | Mar 16, 2021 | 2021 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
I have always been more of a backlist reader than a new release reader. There are so many books published, and it is impossible to keep up as a reader. However, on social media and throughout the publishing world, the new release books especially in fiction are...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 71: Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
by MHill | Jan 24, 2021 | 2021 Book Reviews, Magical Realism, Toni Morrison, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
I have a question. Has there been a well-regarded or lauded author you keep trying out as a reader but have never connected with their books? Toni Morrison is my answer to that question. I have attempted several of her books (Jazz, Paradise, and Love) over the years...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 66: Brown Girl In The Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
by MHill | Dec 6, 2020 | 2020 Book Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Nalo Hopkinson is an author I have wanted to read for a long time. I have seen her novels over the years but had not gotten around to reading one until now. Hopkinson tends to get overlooked in the current trend of black authors writing science fiction or fantasy. I...
Gabo: The Creation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez
by MHill | Nov 28, 2020 | Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Writing
Gabo: The Creation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez is the second documentary about a writer I have watched in the past few days. This 2015 documentary chronicles the author's rise from a small Colombian town to becoming one of the world's greatest and beloved writers. We...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 45: Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
by MHill | May 24, 2020 | 2020 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Rereading Series, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
"Words are free, she used to say, and she appropriated them; they were all hers." That sentence from early in the novel, Eva Luna, by Isabel Allende captures the spirit of her protagonist. Eva Luna is a spinner of tales and the stories from growing up poor on the...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 25: Chronicle Of A Death Foretold
by MHill | Sep 22, 2019 | 2019 Book Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
For the world-renowned novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, most readers have read or attempted to read One Hundred Years of Solitude or the more accessible Love In The Time of Cholera. Some (like me) have read both novels. However, Garcia Marquez has a body of work that...
Book Review 144: House of Lost Dreams by Graham Joyce
by MHill | Oct 12, 2018 | 2018 Book Reviews
Sometimes you pick up a book or these days download it to your Kindle Paperwhite and read. House of Lost Dreams by Graham Joyce is one of those types of novels. I had heard of Graham Joyce's work over the years but did not have an inkling to read any of his work...
Book Review 111: The Woman Behind the Waterfall by Leonora Meriel
by MHill | Jun 24, 2017 | 2017 Book Reviews
Does a child have to carry the burdens of the parents' choices? Does a child have to take on the pain that a parent can not let go of? Can a child free a parent of the pain and burdens they have kept as a part of their identity? Those aforementioned questions came to...